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Sunday, October 2, 2011

A note for mothers of African American/biracial daughters on hair...natural/relaxed/texturized

Ok....My daughter is multiracial, African American/Caucasian/Native American. I'm Caucasian (Duh..pretty obvious). Usually that's a recipe for disaster on the daughter's hair, unless the mother is a hairstylist, or at least pays for a good stylist who understands "ethnic" hair. Sometimes the kid's hair is a disaster even if the mother is African American herself...not everyone knows what's right to keep hair healthy and looking good. I've been a licensed stylist/barber for many years, with a lot of experience doing black hair. That being said, I've never been happy completely with any products I've used for Sarah's hair...Most products are toooooo heavy, or contain awful ingredients...animal, mineral, never actually organic, or naturally based.....you get what you pay for, and most of the time it is cost-cutting chemicals that don't absorb into the hair and skin. Really. Sarah is 13, her natural hair is medium/fine textured, with a very porous, non-locking fuzzy curl. Not a lot of shine, and very effected by humidity. She has been using a light relaxer, and most recently a little bit of permanent haircolour (about one shade lighter than her natural). Her hair is very long...about mid back length, and very healthy...no breakage, trims about every 6 weeks.

I've always stuck with strictly natural products for maintenance....high grade Shea butter for wrapping it.....100% Argan Oil for daily wear. It absorbs well, doesn't leave any greasy after effect. Good stuff. It gets expensive, but a little goes a long way. Use only a tiny bit, and you will get the effect you need...additionally, both oils are great for skin, especially for ashy knees and elbows.

I'm writing this because I'd like to mention a recipe of natural oils that I just purchased and combined, after doing a bit of research. All of these can be found online, or even at Whole Foods, or a natural grocery store fairly easily. I'm finding that this combination is working VERY well for us, so I'd like to share it.

This is the combination I'm using:

Each one of these oils, at 100% strength will cost you about 10-20$ per once...sounds expensive, but again, a little goes a long way...these 5 oils will come to about 6oz total, combined, and I would recommend combining them in a base of almond, coconut, or olive oil, if you want to stretch them a bit (I don't...just the 5 combined. poured into an empty bottle, and used sparingly)

100% Argan Oil 1oz. (from Morocco...pretty easily found these days $10-20 per oz)

Tamanu Oil (South Pacific/Polynesian.....not that hard to find)

Baobob Oil (from Africa...again, fairly easy to locate)

Rosehips oil (I use some imported from Chile...easy to find)

Macadamia Nut oil (mine is from Kenya, I think you can find it pretty easily)

Sooo....this is about a $50/plus investment....it might be a bit dear for some, but it's working well, especially on split ends, and at temple and nape. I'd recommend it on relaxed hair, as it causes no reversion, and I think it would be wonderful on natural hair, as it is very light and contains no non-natural ingredients........give it a try :)

***I do want to add that I'm not advocating relaxed hair, hair colour, or in any way commenting negatively on natural hair. My daughter made the call on, and paid her own money to start using chemicals over my objection.....I know the results, and what can happen once one starts down the path of chems. I also wanted my child to accept the natural beauty of the hair she was born with. We differed on this, and I allowed her to make her own choice and live with the result.....I hope that one day she changes her mind and goes natural.....meanwhile, I hope that education and knowledge of hair health, the ingredients that we both ingest, AND use topically, help her down the path to adulthood.***

The 1940 U.S. Census Project

THE 1940 CENSUS IMAGES ARE NOW RELEASED! On April 2, 2012, NARA released the digital images of the 1940 Unites States Federal Census after a 72 year embargo. These census images will be uploaded and made available on Archives.com, FindMyPast.com, and FamilySearch.org.

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About Me

I appraise antiques for a living, dealt them for years. I'm a practicing barber (old school...shears, etc..no clippers w/ guards, here). Collector of Democratic political memorabilia,vintage barber supplies, and old music. Ummmm, probably born in the wrong era...blahblahblah

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